Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1887-01-14

II ~ a dSances OF lie were showered on your
aonNay Oh, that is an unwise man, that
Is an unfair man, that is an ungrateful man,
tnat is an unphiloSophic man. and more than
al, that is an unchTistian man who measures
MS lie by loss and trial and rheumatic twinge
ana neuraigic thrust-by the things that
went against him rather than by the things
that went for him.
again, notice great many people esti
uate their life by the amount of money they
have made. A man tells me: "The year of
1866, or 1915, or 1856 was all wasted / say,
"Whym He says: 81 made no money"
How is it, then, that you are here to-day, and
clad and fed and sheltered' You had moth
ing at the hands of God, perhaps you tell me;
You have no resources, Who clothed youi
Who fed Youl Who sheltered youi Ger
trinity you did not steal these resources.
Then God gave them to YOU. Be thankful.
have no sympathy with the cant and hy-
pocrisy of people who in pulpit and pew
talk against money as though it had no
value. 1t is refinement, it is education, it is
a thousand blessed surroundings, it is hands,
it is feet it is sails to great enterprises it is
the table spresd to feed the hunger OF your
children, it is the fire to keep your family
warm, it is the building of churches the en-
lowing of colleges, the taking of Bibles across
the sea, under God it is the evangelzation of
Datons-money put to right uses, The more
a man gets the better, if it comes honestly
and goes usefully. What would this world
have been without the William f. Dodges,
aud the George PeabodyS and the James
Lenoxes, and men of that type9 Who sent
Sl3,O0O to earthquake stricken Charleston?
New York Chamber of Commerce. When
breadstuffs were to be sent across the sea to
Ireland, starving Ireland, we took mp collec-
lions in all our churches, but the great mass
Of the money sent, the most Of the bread
'tutfs were sent out by men of means. While
we acknowledge the useS the Christian uses,
Of money and have no sympathy with the
| tnsincerity or the cant that is always talked
against rich men, as though they were not
As good members of society as others, as
though they were to be suspected-the COM
plaiut chiefly made by men who have not
been successful against men who have been
| Successful-while we have no sympathy with
that thing, / tell you plainly a man is most
lnwise who measures this life by monetary
achievements, and he will find out this mis-
Jake when the glittering stuff slips out of his
hands as he goes out of the world without a
| lOllar of money or certificate of stock. Ho
night better have been the Christian porte,
:hat opened his gate, or the Christian work
| nan who heave1 the coal into his cellar
/ They that trust in their wealth and boast
themselves in the multitude of their riches.
none of them can by any means redeem his
brother, nor give to God a ransom for him
| DldU ne SuDulu uOU see COTTupUlOn. Inc wire
men die, likewise the fool, and the british
person perish and leave their wealth to
others"
Substantial comfort will not grow
In natures barren soil
All we can boast-tll Christ we know,
Is vanity and toll"
Now, am glad to say-turning a brighter
Aaf in my discourse-I am glad to say that
| here are great many people who are wiser
han those of whom I have spoken, and they
are measuring their life by moral and spir-
itual development 1t is not egotism for a
| nan TO say: 81 am better than | used to
be; my thoughts are purer; live by the in
spiration of higher motives; l have by the
grace of God put down great mauy of my
vii habits; am better man now entering
1887 than when I entered 1S77n 1t is
no egotism for a soldier to say: II
understand more military tactics than when
| first took up musket and learned to pre-
sent arms and when was thepest of the drill
| o:icer" 1t is no egotism for a sailor to say:
"l know more of voyaging on the sea and
more of ratlines than | did when l first
learned to clew down the mizzen topsail y
1t is no bad thing, no mean thing, no self
righteous thing for Christian man to say:
81 know more about the battles of the Lord
or l can sail better the voyage of this life
than when 1 first entered Chrsts service. "
| Why there are people here to-day who are
mighty for God who once were very weak in
the Christian life, but they have measured
! lances with many foe and unhorsed it.
They have grown swarthy hammering at the
anvil of calamity. They have come upon a
! different platform from the one on which
they stood years and years ago They measure
their life on earth by golden gated Sab,
baths and Pentecostal prayer meetings aud
communion seasons and bapttsmal fonts and
t,,lI -tc1,,
is their life. They have stood on Mount
Sinai and heard it thunder. They have stood
on Mount Pisgah and looked over into the
Promised Land. They have written over
their lifes troubles: Life is but moment .
They are only waiting for the gates to open
and the shackles to fall and the glory tx
begin.
Then I notice there are a great many peo
ple-I wish there were more of them--whC
are measuring their life by the amount oi
good they can do. John Bradford said ht
considered the day wasted in which he die
not by pen or tongue accomplish some good
! cannot tell how much a man might &C
complish if he devoted all his life to righ
purposes. I cannot tell. l have moi
the mathematical capacity, to mak'
the calculation, of how many
burdens he could lift; of how much ignor
ance he could illumine; ; of how many outCast
he could bring back to God. There are mel
who have gone their whole life in the righ
direction. All their faith, all their natura
force all their mental acumen all theil
physical energy, all their enthusiasm Of sou
for God, and they climbed mountains, auC
they crossed seas and they trudget
deserts and they dropped into martyr graves
waiting for the resurrection of tho just. They
measured their lives by the chains they haC
broken, by the sorrow they had alleviated
by the garments with which they clothed
nakedness, by the miles they journeye,
to relieve suffering of any kind anC
of all kinds. That is the wa,
they measured life. How long have thel
lived? "How old art thoup How old wa
Sutter9 How old was Richard Baxters How
old was Philip Dodridge! Why, in practica
usefulness they have lived thousands of years
Add ten thousand times ten thousand NOR
years and you cannot express the time the,
lived Forever. Forever. Forever Adj
all the immortalities, all the thousands o
souls they brought to God, add up all tn
immortalities. Heaven to Heaven, thron
to thrcne, glory to glory, and make the est
mate While that is SO, there are persons il
this house who have not yet begun life
We have got to be babes in Christ befor
we begin Che Christian life. You say yol
are %, or you are 60, or you are 20, or yo
are 50. My brother, if you are not a Chris
tian, you have not begun to live
l do not know what your opportunite
are; do not know what your manners are
attractive or repulsive; do not know wha
your education, elaborate or nothing at all
but know there is a field for you to work
there is a soul for you to save, there is al
especial mission for you to execute l
you have wealth, give it to Christ
If you have eloquence, use
where Paul and Wilberforce use.
! theirs on the side Of Christ Tf won hav,
learning put it into the poor box of tn,
NNOrldc On ffnrirn if nr.n,, hn xrn moi